


misty toes

by hoeunki



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Aliens, Established Relationship, First Kiss, Flowers, Fluff, Greek Mythology - Freeform, M/M, Mentioned Huang Ren Jun, Mistletoe, Romance, researcher!hyuck, stenographer!mark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-25 19:58:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17127785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoeunki/pseuds/hoeunki
Summary: donghyuck likes to bring back all sorts of random things from the planet Earth to show his boyfriend.





	misty toes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [komorebim](https://archiveofourown.org/users/komorebim/gifts).



> for the lovely prince eren <3
> 
> you're honestly such an inspiration to me. thank you for giving great advice and for always lending an ear to listen to our problems. you've been through a lot but I know you'll always remain strong! you're talented and beautiful and amazing and I love you so much. Good luck for your last trimester!!
> 
> I'm sorry that I couldn't make this longer :( I tried to write it bit by bit whenever I had time on my trip and I would've written a whole 6k if I could've. But regardless, I hope you like it :)
> 
> merry christmas from your secret santa, 
> 
> erika

The stone embedded in the center of Mark's head throbbed with a dull pain as he arrived at the entrance of his pod. He twisted the handle with a 'click' and pushed the door open.

Working as a stenographer in the Intergalactic Courts was a tough job for sure, what with the frequent hand cramps from using the stenotype and the moments of panic whenever he didn't quite understand a phrase used by a species from the next galaxy. But despite his busy schedule, Mark enjoyed his position. It certainly paid well, that's for sure.

(The funny part was that Mark never would've met his boyfriend if not for his job, but that's a story for another time.)

Mark stepped into his home, ready to toss his clothes off and hop into bed. Instead, he was greeted by an excited yelp and the crushing embrace of a warm body.

"You're back early," Mark commented fondly, stroking Donghyuck's mop of brown curls. His boyfriend looked up at him, amber eyes sparkling. His skin, as it always did when he was particularly happy, pulsed with a golden aura.

Donghyuck pulled Mark into the cooking area."I just couldn't wait!"

'For what', Mark wanted to ask, but he was stunned into silence as Donghyuck pulled out something he had never seen in his entire life.

The transparent capsule, which had the familiar Neo Cosmos Transgalactic Research Center logo on it, floated in the space between Mark and Donghyuck. Donghyuck pressed the button on the underside of the capsule and the top half opened, releasing gas as it did so.

The first thing that caught Mark's attention was the _smell_. It was subtle, a sweet yet slightly musty scent that wafted through the air. Mark wasn't sure if he liked it or not.

And the _color_ . The edges of it were a vivid yellow hue, similar to Donghyuck's irises. The circular center was a gradient of black to brown, and Mark was shocked by the prickly sensation of the _thing_ against the pad of his index finger.

It had a green stalk that disappeared into the soil that Donghyuck had placed it in. Mark ran his hand along the length of it and felt tiny, smooth hairs. Donghyuck leaned close, smiling as he played with the yellow parts of the odd object.

"What... is this?" Mark couldn't keep his eyes off it. Last month, during one of his many travels, Donghyuck had chanced across a curious planet called Earth. It took him a total of 2 whole days to fall in love with the place and upon his return, he couldn't shut up about it.

("Mark! It's absolutely breathtaking. It has all sorts of places that I know you'd love!" "Markie, did you know that they keep other species in their home and trap them in cages? I think they have some sort of superiority complex.")

Mark had been expecting Donghyuck to bring something back, but he hadn't anticipated... whatever this was.

"They call it a 'sunflower,'" Donghyuck beamed. "Because it turns to face the sun! Interesting, right? These yellow parts are called petals."

Mark hummed. "Petals..." He dug a nail into one of them, gasping softly as it tore and fluttered to the ground. It was so unexpectedly delicate.

Donghyuck wrapped an arm around the capsule and set it onto a counter. "An Earthling gave this to me. He's called Renjun, and he seemed very amused by my presence. Maybe one day I'll bring him here to meet you and the others!"

"Sure," Mark chuckled, ruffling his boyfriend's hair.

Donghyuck was always so hyped up whenever he discovered a new planet. Their pod was filled with junk from various star clusters and distant galaxies and when Donghyuck got tired of them, he'd send them down to the Yards to be reinvented into something useful. Mark expected nothing more from this passing spark of curiosity. Soon enough, like the blazing trail of a shooting star, his interest would eventually die out and he'd move on.

 

He didn't move on.

During the next month, Donghyuck brought back a stack of books from Renjun. He made Mark sit down with him and learn about flower meanings.

"Lilies are commonly used at funerals because they symbolize the innocence of a departed soul. Red tulips are associated with pure love, whereas yellow tulips can be used to convey thoughts of cheerfulness."

"They ascribe meanings to colors?" Mark studied the pictures and wondered if they all smelled the same or if they were all as soft. "Earthlings are so peculiar."

Donghyuck agreed with a vigorous nod of the head. "Maybe it's because they're all afraid of the futility of their lives and their general lack of purpose in the universe and they feel the need to compensate for it."

Mark pondered those words for a few moments and shrugged.

"Yeah, that makes sense."

They proceeded to study the next book, a thick tome with the word 'ENCYCLOPEDIA' written across the front in bold lettering (Mark and Donghyuck took a few nights to get through that one).

Thus began Donghyuck's quest to learn all about the Earth and their peculiar inhabitants called 'humans'. Mark, as per usual, was dragged into the whole thing, and soon their pod was filled with even more paraphernalia that Donghyuck categorized into piles. Various books, manuscripts and magazines, an assortment of odd looking trinkets, and foreign devices littered the floor. There was a different sparkle in Donghyuck's eyes whenever he spoke about Earth, and Mark had a feeling that his boyfriend wouldn't be getting bored any time soon.

 

Mark came home from work one day to find Donghyuck lying on their bed with their Holoscreen open in front of him. He was staring with an intense focus at the contents of the screen, barely even sparing Mark a glance as he sat down beside him.

"I used some fancy VPN to access this link that Renjun gave me," Donghyuck said, not taking his eyes off the screen. "There's this group of creatures that call themselves Greeks and a long time ago, they used to tell these stories called myths that centered around higher beings. 'Gods', were what Renjun referred to them as."

Mark peered at the screen. Donghyuck was reading questions and clicking on buttons; it looked like he was taking some sort of test.

"'What kinds of places do you feel most at peace in?'" Donghyuck stroked his chin thoughtfully. "These questions are too specific. They make references to Earth things and I have to do extra research."

Mark lay down on his stomach and shuffled closer to Donghyuck until their arms were pressed against each other.

"What are you doing?"

Donghyuck smiled. "I'm taking this quiz to find out who my mythological Greek parent would be. They analyse the answers I give and then sort me based on compatibility.”

He clicked gold on a question asking 'what color best represents you?' And continued scrolling.

"But... these questions are so general! How could they ever capture the depth of an individual's personality?" There were too many flaws in this, Mark thought to himself.

"It's just for fun, Mark. I found a whole website filled with these quizzes about random things like 'Which High Class Brunch Food Are You' and - oh look, I got Apollo!"

Mark squinted at the screen. A grey statue of a man stood on the top of what Mark assumed to be a pillar, and he cradled a stringed instrument in his left arm.

"Are those his genitals hangin-"

"Apollo is the God of music and the sun!" Donghyuck exclaimed, his skin instantly glowing a shade brighter. He pushed the screen towards Mark, urging him to try it out himself. "Sounds accurate enough, right?"

Mark rolled his eyes, but indulged his boyfriend anyway by refreshing the page. Five minutes later, he was proclaimed as an official son of Hermes.

"Hm, I pegged you more as a Zeus or Nike kid, but whatever. Let's move on! 'Go Shopping at Walmart and We'll Tell You Your Deepest Fear.'"

 

They spent hours together, Mark and Donghyuck, learning and studying the many wonders that the Earth had to offer. Their civilizations were awfully complex - customs that differed from region to region, nuanced languages that were difficult to grasp - it was interesting and tiring at the same time.

Mark was particularly taken with a contraption called a 'television'. The moment Donghyuck took it back from the Yards and slid the 'VHS tape' in, Mark was instantly captivated by the grainy, black and white figures on the screen that spoke with slightly muffled voices. Every night before they went to bed, the couple watched an episode or two, even if they couldn't fully understand the conversations.

Donghyuck, on the other hand, was fascinated by the music. He brought home a 'turntable' that somehow played sounds by scratching the grooves of a flat, round disc. He danced endlessly to the songs in their living area, carefree and jubilant. Some of the songs were lively and upbeat, others similar to the kind of melodies played at the bars on Mark's home planet. Mark liked the slower ones - he'd put them on and relax with a book by the big window overlooking the outer rings of the planet.

It didn't take long for Mark to understand what was so intriguing about the Earth. It was so full of life, so unnecessarily complicated and amusing. He spent many evenings talking with Donghyuck about topics like astrology and conspiracy theories about aliens. Their view on outer space was definitely entertaining.

He thought he'd seen just about everything until he walked in on Donghyuck tying something on the arched entrance that led to the second level of their pod. The rest of the living area was a mess: colored balls and ribbons were scattered all over the floor, and there was a tiny tree with blinking lights shoved up in the corner. The record player was playing some sort of jazzy tune that Donghyuck was humming along to.

Mark walked up to Donghyuck and placed a hand on his back. “Duckie?”

Donghyuck startled, whirling around to face him. He looked surprised, as if he wasn’t expecting Mark to come home at this time in the afternoon. He glanced up at the thing he was tying - a tiny bunch of leaves with red berries - and bit his lip.

“What’s all this?” Mark asked, gently tugging Donghyuck closer by the hips.

His boyfriend’s cheeks begun to take an unfamiliar pinkish hue as he answered, “I’m decorating for Christmas.”

“Christmas?”

Donghyuck nodded. “It’s some religious holiday on Earth. I’ll let you read about it later.”

Mark looked around at the ornaments and embellishments. They made their tiny space seem a little more livelier and brighter, he supposed. His eyes wandered back up to the plant that Donghyuck had been occupied with.

He pointed up at it. “What’s that thing?”

That funny hue began to appear on Donghyuck’s face again. He stared down, not meeting Mark’s eyes.

“It’s a misty toe,” he said with a soft voice. Mark frowned slightly. It didn’t look anything like a foot, but humans had odd names for things anyway so he didn’t question it.

“There’s this tradition that the Earthlings practice,” Donghyuck explained, playing with the hem of Mark’s vest. “When you meet someone under the misty toe, you’re supposed to kiss them.”

Mark tilted his head, confused. “Kiss?”

Donghyuck stilled. He took a deep breath before looking up to face Mark, and the only thing he could think about was how pretty the contrast was between the pink tint and the amber skin of his cheeks.

“It’s something the humans do, usually when they have feelings for each other.” His voice was almost a whisper. “They um, touch their lips to the other person’s as a sign of affection.”

Mark blinked. In the background, a song about a snowman was playing. “Do you… want to try?”

“Oh,” Donghyuck colored again, “Okay.”

He lifted his hand to Mark’s cheek and brought their faces together so that their noses were touching. It was hard to look at him from this distance - Mark had to cross his eyes. For some reason, Mark started to feel nervous as Donghyuck traced his jaw with warm fingers. Apprehension bubbled up in his stomach and he shut his eyes as Donghyuck leaned in. He could feel his three hearts racing in his chest.

Then Donghyuck pressed his lips against Mark's, soft and sweet. It lasted a whole five seconds before he pulled away, and Mark found himself overwhelmed with the desire to do it again. It felt nice. _Really_ nice. Maybe the humans were onto something.

Donghyuck must've been thinking the same thing because he giggled and pressed their foreheads together.

“I think we need practice,” he laughed. “Renjun described kisses as being more magical.”

.He hummed in agreement, and leaned in once more to give an experimental kiss to Donghyuck's nose. There was no need to rush. They had eons to master the art of kissing, after all.

Mark thumbed at Donghyuck's ear, loving the way it lit up at his touch. He'd seen so many amazing things through the pictures Donghyuck brought home from work, every inch of their wondrous galaxy and the beauty of different planets. But above all, he still held one opinion:

Donghyuck was undoubtedly the most exquisite being in the universe that Mark had ever laid eyes upon.

**Author's Note:**

> donghyuck has plasma powers and mark's forehead stone reflects his feelings.


End file.
